MOUNT ST. MARY'S (4-9, 1-4 NEC) at HOBART (7-5, 4-1 NEC)
Saturday, April 25, 12:00 p.m.
Boswell Field, Geneva, N.Y.
GAME NOTES | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS | LIVE AUDIO
MOUNT UPDATE: The Mountaineers lost to Saint Joseph's, 16-4, on Saturday to fall to 4-8 overall and 1-3 in the Northeast Conference. Justin Gosnell scored a pair of goals for the Mount, which fell behind 12-0 in the contest. Bubba Johnson leads the Mount with 22 points (15g, 7a) while Gosnell is second on the team with 21 points (17g, 4a). Goalkeeper Matt Vierheller has an 8.26 goals against average and .577 save percentage this season.
ABOUT THE STATESMEN: Hobart dropped a heart-breaker at Saint Joseph's, 7-6 in overtime, last Saturday to fall to 7-5 overall and 4-1 in the Northeast Conference. The Statesmen have clinched the No. 2 seed in the NEC Tournament. Sophomore goalkeeper Jackson Brown made a career-high 22 saves in the loss as Hobart was outshot 57-25 in the contest. The Statesmen led 6-3 with 8:27 left in regulation before Saint Joseph's rallied. Alex Love leads Hobart with 19 goals and 24 points. Brendan Saylor (16g, 4a), Matt Opsahl (14g, 5a) and Taylor Vanderbeek (14g, 5a) round out a balanced offense. Brown has started all 12 games in goal, posting a 9.11 goals against average and a .579 save percentage on the year.
THE ALL-TIME SERIES: Hobart defeated the Mount, 8-5, on March 29 last year in the first-ever matchup between the two schools. Matt Opsahl scored four goals to lead Hobart to the victory. The Statesmen jumped out to a 4-1 lead after the first quarter, and held the Mount off for the win. The Mountaineers outshot Hobart, 30-25, in the game while holding a 35-22 edge in ground balls. Mount face-off specialist Nick Haley won 13 of 16 face-offs in the game, scooping up a team-high eight ground balls as well. Frankie McCarthy had seven saves for the Mount while Peter Zonino made 10 saves for Hobart.
PLAYOFF SCENARIO: Mount St. Mary's can earn the fourth and final Northeast Conference Tournament berth with a win over Hobart coupled with a Saint Joseph's win over Sacred Heart. Mount St. Mary's has not appeared in the NEC Tournament since 2012. The Mountaineers won the inaugural NEC Tournament title in 2011 with a 14-9 win over Quinnipiac at home. The next season, the Mount lost to Bryant, 12-6, in the NEC Championship game.
GRAVANTE FACES ALMA MATER: Mount St. Mary's head coach Tom Gravante, a 1988 graduate of Hobart, was a standout on attack for the Statesmen. Gravante tallied 141 goals and 69 assists for 210 career points while helping lead Hobart to NCAA Division III National Championships in each of his four seasons. Gravante had 66 goals and 22 assists for Hobart as a senior and was a two-time first-team All-American.
NATIONAL LEADERS: Senior defenseman Kyle O'Brien is seventh in the nation with 1.92 caused turnovers per game...Matt Vierheller ranks eighth in the nation in save percentage (.573), 14th in goals against average (8.24) and tied for 21st in saves per game (10.36).
VIERHELLER EARNS WEEKLY HONOR: Freshman Matt Vierheller was named the Northeast Conference Rookie of the Week on March 30 after posting a 6.50 goals against average and a .581 save percentage in two games. The freshman was outstanding against Sacred Heart, allowing two goals while making 13 saves in the 10-2 victory. Vierheller is the second Mountaineer to earn Rookie of the Week honors this season, joining Mike Moynihan who grabbed the award on Feb. 16. The last time the Mount had multiple Rookie of the Week winners in the same season was 2010 when Andrew Scalley (two times), Brett Schmidt and Bryant Schmidt all won the award.
GOSNELL TAKES TEAM LEAD IN GOALS: Junior Justin Gosnell, in his first season with the Mountaineers, has taken over the team lead with 18 goals this season. He has scored at least one goal in each of the past nine games, and has seven multiple-goal efforts this season.
EXPERIENCE ON DEFENSE: The Mount's trio of senior starters on defense includes Nick Firman, Kyle O'Brien and Alex Stefkovich. The three have combined for 170 ground balls and 68 caused turnovers over the past two seasons.
McCARTHY STEPS UP: Junior Frankie McCarthy got the start in the cage in the Mount's 12-11 win over Bucknell and responded with a career-high 19 saves. McCarthy was outstanding in the first half, making 14 saves while facing 30 shots. He added a pair of key caused turnovers in the fourth quarter while picking up four ground balls in the game, and was named the Select Sector SPDR D1 Men's Player of the Week by Inside Lacrosse.
TEAM CAPTAINS: Mike Daly, Nick Firman and Braedon Graham are the team captains for the Mountaineers this season.
